Weight Loss Made Easy....

Ok so it's not the real wight loss that I want, but still a good weight loss.  Yesterday I joined Ocean Pro Divers and instructor / shop owner and friend Shannon Kozak at Porteau Cove for my Peak Performance Buoyancy course.  Prior to this class I was diving with 30 lbs of lead, I had managed to drop my ankle weights (4 lbs) when diving with Ward during In Search of Whiskey and the VT-100, but during the course I was able to drop down to 22 lbs of lead.  Now to understand why dropping weight is important, think about it the same weigh you would on the surface, if you are over-weight and do any kind of excecise you breathe harder and faster, the same is true under water, you use more air to remain buoyant and to move that size (inflated and less streamlined) and weight through the water you breathe harder and use up your air faster resulting in shorter dives...not good.

Tube Snout

As well as dropping the unneeded weight I was lucky enough to see a ton of tube snout, a Great Pacific Octopus hiding beneath the sail boat, and even got inked by a little squid that I startled think it was a Sea Squirt and tried to touch it before it swam away squirting as it went.

Over-all another amazing dive with my friends as I work towards being the best diver I can be.

Abort... Abort... Abort...

So health is a fickle thing... take the cold that I have, along with my jaw pain and mix in a little ocean water in the lungs and you end up with a recipe for bad diving!  I started this morning feeling a little under the weather but figured it might just be my jaw, or the slight cold I was working on, but nothing serious... boy was I wrong.  So we get to Whytecliff earlier today, gear up and head for the water, I feel a little tired, nothing too far out of the ordinary but it was definitely a harder trek than it usually is, or at least felt that way.  Out into the surf, if you can call it that.. lol, and along the wall with my group until Virpi gives the word, and partnered up, we descend.  It's so amazing underwater, I know I write this all the time, but until you have been down there, you really don't know what you're missing.  So the plan for today is 3 dives, our first being our deep dive to beyond 80 feet, followed by our Navigation dive and our Peak Performance Buoyancy dive.  Should be another great day!  Our deep goes great, despite the fact I feel a little more tired than I think I should and I seem to be using air faster today, maybe it's the additional buoyancy corrections I'm having to do... needless to say it was great.  As we progressed deeper and deeper and I'm watching my needle tip into the 90+ foot range, I look up... what a sight.  I am blowing bubbles and loosing track of them as they get to small to make out on their journey to the surface.  I am roughly 9 stories under water, breathing and visiting with the fish... life is good!  But inevitably, the party must come to an end, as unlike the fish, I am dependent on the tanks on my back to be able to stay here and air does not last forever.  So we start our return swim, and stop in about 12 feet of water for our safety stop, which involves a quick game of tic tac toe on one of my partners slates... no joke, I have played tic tac toe in 12 feet of water... my mom would be so proud.. lol.  Despite some buoyancy issues trying to stay at 12 feet and not have to work so hard, it was interesting sitting and watching the world move around you. Before long, the 3 minutes is up, we surface and a gentle surface swim (I hate surface swims...lol) back to shore.  Here is where the day started to break down, once shallow enough we stand or get our balance on the bottom and remove our fins, then walk up the beach, remove our BCDs and switch tanks, easy.... not today!  I hit shallow water, and try to stand, it takes all I have to get balanced on one foot and start working on my first fin, I am still on this fin and my partners are already on their way up the beach.  Virpi offered to help and she is floating in the water a few feet away keeping an eye on me.  Finally the second fin submits and it's time again to try to stand, hard enough on it's own, and then walk up the beach in full gear.  By the time I got to the log we were using to switch gear, I was exhausted and fighting to catch my breath.  My partners had already gotten their tanks and headed for the parking lot to switch tanks, so I quickly pulled mine and followed Virpi up the stairs.  This was sign number two, I had to stop!  I have been to Whytecliff diving twice previous, I have been up and down the hills at least half a dozen times with tanks and even once carried 2 tanks in a single trip... I have never needed to stop...  After getting going again from stop number 3 I finally reached my truck, switched tanks, and sat on the back of the truck... After my partners went down, and Virpi came by to check on me before heading down herself I sat and just tried to catch my breath and figure out what was going on.  So I grabbed my full tank, locked up the truck and headed back down to the beach, to start my next dive.... 3 stops later, I reached the log, I am sure by now I was flushed and looked like death warmed over.  Virpi just looked at me and said, "If you're not feeling up to it, call it a day, the last thing you want to do is risk hurting yourself."  That was about all it took, I looked at Virpi, nodded my head and told her I was done.  I felt like the Navy Seal ringing the bell, I felt like I had just quit, given up, chickened out.... I grabbed my gear, wished my team luck and headed for my truck, and home. 

After making it home, I relayed the story to Jenn (my wife), who sent me to bed...lol.  I am such a child sometimes..lol.  Virpi called later in the day to let me know they were all on their way back to the shop so Jenn drove me in to OPD so I could clean and put away my gear.  This also gave me a chance to get my book filled out from the dives I had completed and thank Virpi again for letting me skip my last 2 dives and make them up another day.  Now to just get healthy, O2 training on Tuesday, here we come.

Schools back from Summer!

I know the Alice Cooper song is actually Schools out for Summer, and that was what my kids were celebrating a couple months back.  But for me, I am excited to be back at school, last night marked my return to OPD (Ocean Pro Divers) for the start of my Advanced Diver training.  I have spent the last week trying to read through the entire Adventures in Diving book which includes an intro, a review quiz of Open Water diving to make sure it is fresh in your mind and then a chapter and review for each of the potential, I believe, 14 specialties you can choose from.  In this we were supposed to have at least a few read and try to narrow down what we were interested in doing.  To complete your Advanced you need to complete 5 adventure dives, Navigation (my least favorite), Deep (the one I am most excited about) and then 3 of our choosing.  Options include, Altitude, Aware Fish ID, Boat, Photography, Video, Naturalist, Drift, Dry Suit (which I am already certified on), Multi-level, Night, Search and Recovery, Wreck, and Peak Performance Buoyancy.  Our group of three managed to narrow it down to Night, Wreck and PPB (Peak Performance Buoyancy.)  Now it's time to read through the 3 additional sections and get the homework done and be ready to dive Saturday afternoon.  We will be starting our dives late on Saturday as we are going to try to get 2 dives in (probably Wreck and PPB) before the sun goes down and then in the dark of night slip back into the water for a night dive... I'm both excited and afraid... is now when I tell people I'm not a huge fan of the dark...lol.  Sunday will be our final 2 dives including the one i am most looking forward to, our Deep dive, I believe we are going to 80 feet... that's a whole heck of a long way down!  Well, wish me luck and I will report on Sunday (or Monday) how the dives have gone.